Andrew Wallace (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the final sitting week of 2021 the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces was published by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins. Today, on the first sitting day of 2022, we deliver this statement on behalf of the parliamentary cross-party leadership task force recommended by Commissioner Jenkins and as a reflection of the parliament.

We acknowledge the unacceptable history of workplace bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces. This issue is of the greatest importance and is the responsibility of all people who work in this place. Any bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault is unacceptable and wrong. We say, 'Sorry.' Every workplace should be safe and respectful.

This place and its members are committed to bringing about lasting and meaningful change to both culture and practice within our workplaces. We have failed to provide this in the past. We today declare our personal and collective commitment to make the changes required. We will aspire, as we should, to set the standard for our nation.

We thank all of those who participated in the Jenkins review and acknowledge everyone who came forward to tell us of their experiences. We also acknowledge the many others who could not or did not participate but who may have experienced misconduct. We know that your experiences have had profound and far-reaching impacts on your lives. We have listened and heard you, and we accept your calls for change.

This parliament should serve as a model workplace for our nation. Only by creating the best workplace will this parliament attract the best people our country has to offer, and only by attracting the best our country has to offer and by listening to the communities we represent will we deliver the high standards that our country deserves.

Parliamentary workers feel pride in working for their country, and the privilege and honour of making a difference for the Australian people. However, for far too many, it has not been safe or respectful.

The Jenkins review proposes an ambitious program of reform to ensure Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces meet the highest standards. We are fully committed to working across the parliament to implement all of these recommendations within the time frames proposed by Commissioner Jenkins.

We have started to act. Last year, we established a new independent complaints process and began providing trauma-informed support for people who have experienced serious incidents working in the parliament. Members, senators and staff have undertaken professional workplace training.

Parliamentarians must uphold the highest standards and be accountable for delivering required actions. We know that cultural change has to come from the top—it has to be role modelled and championed by all of us.

While we know we cannot undo the harm that has already been done, we are committed to acknowledging the mistakes of the past and continuing to build safe and respectful workplaces. I give the call to the Prime Minister.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I thank you for your statement of acknowledgement. You were elected in this place to be the voice of all of us here, and I thank you for speaking on behalf of all of us with one voice today here in this parliament. I hope that voice is heard loud and clear right across our country, as indeed it will be in the other place.

I rise to enthusiastically support this acknowledgement and to recognise all of those who are why we are here today and making this acknowledgement. I particularly want to acknowledge Ms Brittany Higgins, whose experience—and, more importantly, courage—is the reason we are all here today, and I want to thank her for that. I also want to recognise all of those who have contributed to the Jenkins review. Some 1,700 individuals contributed. Nine hundred and thirty-five participated in surveys from right across this building, not just in parliamentary staff but in media galleries—those who work in and call this place their place of work. Four hundred and ninety interviews were conducted. Eleven focus groups were undertaken.

This review speaks of a longstanding culture—generations of culture—in this place, and in the building before it, of bullying and harassment that has occurred over this time, and a power imbalance, over that time, that has been exploited, and that exploitation, abuse, bullying and harassment have played themselves out through terrible, traumatic and harrowing experiences: the harassment of staff, particularly female staff, as well as the harassment of female members and senators. Over many decades, an ecosystem, a culture, was perpetuated where bullying, abuse, harassment and, in some cases, even violence became normalised.

This has to change, it is changing and I believe it will change, so that those who come into this place as members and those who come to work in this place can have that confidence, as every Australian should, in any workplace, anywhere in this country, as these issues are not unique to this place, as we all know. Parliament can't be a place of cruelty; nor can it be a place where incivility towards each other is somehow proof of some strength. This chamber in this building is a place where ideas are tested—a place where the rigours of debate hold government and lawmakers to account. And that's appropriate. It is a place of scrutiny. Never before, I think, has this place been under such scrutiny when it comes to these issues, and that is only right.

It must also be a place, as the Speaker has said on our behalf, of the highest standards—a place where any Australian can aspire to work and know they can work safely. As one participant in the Jenkins review put it, a culture which is all about power doesn't have to be a culture which is about the abuse of power. Power is about service, and it should be exercised with humility and love, as we were reminded this morning at the church service to open this year.

Commissioner Kate Jenkins has laid the challenge out before us, and I thank Commissioner Jenkins for her tremendous work and counsel on all of these issues. She said:

This is an opportunity for the leaders of our country to transform Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces to become what they already should be: workplaces where expected standards of behaviour are modelled, championed and enforced, where respectful behaviour is rewarded and in which any Australian, no matter their gender, race, sexual orientation, disability status or age, feels safe and welcome to contribute.

That is our task. She has set it out very clearly. We must hold ourselves to this standard—all of us. I hesitate in calling it a new standard because that suggests that, somehow, it should not have been the standard previously. This is a standard that should be outside of time, because, by taking an oath or affirmation at this very table, you are a leader, in whatever role you serve, and you owe just and best judgement—to the highest efforts—to the Australian people.

We've understood in this place the power of an apology to bring healing and to bring change, and I am proud that this is a chamber in which we have done this on so many occasions. I believe Australia is somewhat unique in this regard. We don't shy, nor have we sought to silence the valid and just complaints of people, because there is fear about electoral consequences. I am sorry. We are sorry. I say sorry to Ms Higgins for the terrible things that took place here. The place that should have been a place of safety and contribution turned out to be a nightmare. But I am sorry for far more than that. I'm sorry for all of those who came before Ms Higgins and endured the same. But she had the courage to stand, and so here we are.

So we are sorry for all of these things, and, in saying so, each of us take accountability for changing these things. To those who have perpetuated such bullying, abuse and violence: the light will come to those behaviours, as it must. But it will follow and respect the rule of law in this country. It will proceed on the basis of fairness and justice, in accordance with the rules that are in place in our country, and it will be done in the proper way, which I'm sure all in this place would agree with. Justice should come, and it should always be delivered under the rule of law.

Every single Australian has the right to be safe at work, and yet it is clear that practical and cultural changes are necessary to make our parliamentary workplaces safer. This acknowledgement is a marker. It is yet another step. It is a moment of change. It is a commitment by each and every one of us—wearing no partisan hats—as parliamentarians, employers and colleagues, to change this culture and this ecosystem. It is a determination to make this building and its many subsidiaries places that, in the future, embody, in every form, the values, hopes and aspirations of the Australian people—places of heart and soul, where our humanity is not lost, diminished or harmed because of what is the adversarial nature of our political system. Sorry is only the start. That is our promise to those who are here today and to those watching across Australia. Those of us who are here now know we have that opportunity and we must—and we can, and we will—do better. I am determined that we deliver the outcomes of the Jenkins review and make our Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces safer and more respectful for everyone.

The parliament has, as you said, Mr Speaker, already commenced that work, even before the Jenkins review was handed down. We're working together towards the implementation of all 28 recommendations. This past week, the multiparty leadership task force convened for the first time, chaired by Ms Kerry Hartland. Whether it is this acknowledgement today or the laws that will be introduced into parliament this week, we are working together to change this place for the better. We have extended the funding for the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service so work can commence on its expansion and so it can continue to be made available to staff and parliamentarians, alongside extra funding for the parliamentary support line. I want this building to be a place where young Australians and young women in particular can follow their dreams and can live out their beliefs and not have them crushed by brutality and the misuse of power. That's what I'm dedicated to.

We will come back to this work many, many times in the years ahead, because this work will take many years. It will be ongoing but we must not backslide. We owe it to all of those who work in this building. We owe it to all of those who strive to work in this building in the future. We owe it to the Australian people, whom we all have the good grace and great privilege to serve.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Set the standard, just three words that say so much. This report by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins is a reminder of our obligation as a parliament to lead by example. It catalogues in personal testimony and shocking statistics our failure to do so. It is also a demand that we act right now.

We owe a debt of gratitude to everyone in this building as well as every former staff member who stepped up to share their experiences of workplace bullying and misconduct, of sexual harassment and, most traumatically, of sexual assault. I also acknowledge particularly the women who bravely stood up and called out a culture of mistreatment, which brought this issue into the light. I particularly pay tribute to the courage of Brittany Higgins, who's with us today. You have torn through a silence that has acted as the life support system for the most odious of status quos. To describe your experiences is to relive them. I say to everyone who took part: that took a level of courage that you should never have needed to show, but you did, and we thank you for it. We also acknowledge everyone who has experienced misconduct but could not take part. Indeed, there are many who are not ready to speak and perhaps never will be. I hope that you can take some heart from knowing that this very institution that failed you is at last acknowledging your hurt. Most importantly, we are sorry. On behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I am sorry.

We are committing to change. The Jenkins report, with its piercing honesty about the treatment of women and men both, has exposed a damaged culture, and no word any of us says in here is worth a thing if it does not lead to action. We can make a difference, but it will take real and sustained effort to create the lasting cultural change that we need. I believe we can do it. I know that we have to. How we can start doing that is by working across the parliament to implement every single recommendation of the Jenkins report. That is the absolute minimum we should be doing for the staff who are in so many ways the fuel in the engine of parliament.

Staff members are drawn to work in politics for many of the same reasons that parliamentarians are: belief in their party's principles, belief in those they work for and belief in the power of the political process to create change and to make lives better. That work should be valued and recognised, even if it is behind the scenes. Staff and their contributions are not in the spotlight, but lower visibility is not a licence to lesser treatment. No-one deserves to feel unsafe or disrespected in any workplace, let alone our national parliament. Let us be the example for Australia that the national parliament ought to be.

The Jenkins report was the culmination of a watershed year in Australian politics, society and gender relations. While the report concerns itself with this place, it is part of something bigger: an overdue national reckoning. Around this time last year, women across the country came together to call out the inequalities of gender and power that permeate their lives each day. Among its many manifestations was the Women's March4Justice right across Australia, including one in front of Parliament House, which I attended. There was something especially momentous about that march within sight of this very building, where revelations about a culture gone wrong proved to be such a catalyst for a national movement. However, we cannot ask the people we represent to make change without also making real and lasting change in this very building. We must, to put it simply, walk the talk.

We cannot attract the best people to this place if we don't strive to be the best ourselves, and without the best people we cannot achieve the best outcomes for the Australian people. Nor can we leave this work just to women. These aren't only women's issues. They belong to us all. Men have to step up and be allies in both word and deed. We have no excuse to wait for yet another wake-up call. This has been made clear to us by the extraordinary examples of not just Brittany Higgins but Grace Tame and others, who have found the strength to lift the weight of their own experience and hold it high until no-one could look away. In doing so, they have lightened the burden by that crucial fraction for so many others.

Let us work together, guided by respect, inclusion and collaboration. That's how we will build a better future for the women and men of Australia. We cannot undo what is already done, but if we have the will we can break out of this cycle for good, together. A lot of staff members have been failed over the years, but they still had the grace to show us the path forward. Thanks to them, to those members of parliament who worked on the cross-parliamentary committee and to Commissioner Jenkins we have no excuse not to take that path. That's surely something that this House of Representatives can unite on as we move forward.

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to endorse the remarks of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and the views held by so many people who have appeared here today. Parliament House should be the safest workplace in the country. Unfortunately, it isn't, and most certainly it wasn't in the past.

In response to the brave voices speaking out about their experiences, the government commissioned a review, led by Kate Jenkins, into Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces. In total, 1,700 individuals participated in the Jenkins review; 490 people were interviewed and 302 submissions were provided. Those 490 people, no doubt, were a subset of so many more who could've also provided their views of this place both now and in the past. Those 490 people believed that they had a reason to speak out. Those 490 people believed that it was worthwhile making a statement, going out of their comfort zone, to express what they believed needed to change about this parliament.

The experiences people shared as part of the Jenkins review are truly disturbing and confronting. These experiences have no place in any workplace, let alone our parliament. I thank every individual who participated in the review. Your experiences have been heard and will be acted on. I join both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in saying sorry and acknowledging that we will do better.

I'm privileged to represent the people of New England and, more broadly, Australian people as an elected representative. We are in a unique position in that we can bring about change for the better, and there is no easier place in which to bring about change than the place where we work. With this privilege, all sides of politics have a responsibility that we must rise to and ensure that the horrific experiences, in this building, of many people are never repeated—because of the brave women who have spoken out on this issue of culture and their experiences in this building, about which they have confided in people so that something can be done about it. By doing this we are taking merely the first step to fix the culture and the broken system, to provide a workplace that is safe.

There are people who are watching here today—and I acknowledge Ms Higgins—but there are also those who are watching from home, from offices in this building and from a whole range of places, making sure that we make our first step in what are going to be many steps. The statement of acknowledgement is the first recommendation in the Jenkins review. There are 27 other recommendations as part of this review. Together we are committed to make Parliament House the safest workplace in the country and a reflection to our nation of a model workplace for us all to work in.

Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Speaker, for your statement. I want to record the Greens' support for it and our commitment to working for the full implementation of the Set the standard recommendations. Around half of the staff in parliamentary workplaces have experienced harassment, bullying or assault during their time here—half. We should all be appalled by that. For First Nations people, people of colour, people with disabilities, the harassment and disrespect can be even worse. The commissioner heard that even raising issues of racism or the intersectionality of racism and sexism could provoke an aggressive response. As the thousands and thousands of women and allies who took to the streets to march for justice said: 'Enough. This has to stop.'

There are many things on which people in this place do not agree, but on this issue we must be unified. There cannot be more blame-shifting and glossing-over and waiting until later. The blame is ours. The shame is ours. I am so sorry. The toxic culture that has been allowed to fester in parliament, documented in appalling detail by Commissioner Jenkins in Set the standard, must end, and that will only happen if we work together to end it. As one of the participants interviewed by the Human Rights Commission said: 'This is parliament. You should set the standard for workplace culture, not the floor of what culture should be.' We are sorry and we have to do better, every single one of us, every single day.

It's been nearly 12 months since Brittany Higgins bravely shared her experience, peeling back the curtain on the callous disregard that so many women, so many people, have endured for so long. Hers was not the first story. Rachelle Miller, Chelsey Potter and countless others had spoken out before. Brittany Higgins's story was not even the most recent story. But hers was the final straw, and this parliament must commit to making it the last story that someone has to tell. Brittany Higgins, Rachelle Miller, Chelsey Potter, Josie Coles, Emma Husar, Julia Banks and so many others shared their stories with Kate Jenkins because they felt they had to—to reveal the toxic culture, the sexism, the bullying, the lack of support, the 'he said, she said' mentality, the cover-ups. They did this in the hope that something would change. They chose to speak up for themselves and for those who aren't able to. We know from the report that the vast majority of staff who have been harassed in this place have made no formal report, because they had no faith that anything would be done. We have heard and we have listened. We must keep listening.

We must make sure that current and former staff and affected survivors are involved in these reforms in a meaningful way and feel supported to tell us when we're not doing enough. We must work to support those who have suffered, who are still suffering, from their experience. We must maintain a robust, independent, confidential complaints process that people can trust. We must work to put in place a code of conduct that not only sets the standard but makes sure that there are consequences when those standards are not met.

We also need to tackle the lack of full representation in our parliament. The culture in this place will change when decisions are being made by people with different views and experiences. We must work for a more diverse and inclusive parliament that better represents the community: more women, people of colour, people with disability, LGBTIQ+ people, and people with diverse backgrounds.

I want to thank Commissioner Jenkins again for the incredible work she and her team have done in setting out what we need to do. We owe it to everyone who took part and to everyone in this place, everyone in this country, to show some leadership and get it done. I also want to acknowledge that this is work that needs to be done in all workplaces around the country. We must also all keep working for a positive duty on employers to ensure that every worker in every workplace is safe and respected.

Ultimately, men have failed—failed to act with respect, failed to act with basic human decency, failed to listen, and failed to make the changes necessary when asked. It is men who need to change their behaviours, and we are committed to that.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on behalf of the crossbench members to speak in support of the statement of acknowledgement you provided to this House today, a statement initiated by the Jenkins Report Leadership Taskforce, of which I am a member. Importantly, it's a bipartisan task force, to ensure that we all engage and ensure a better and safer workplace going forward. Thank you to Kerri Hartland, who is chairing the task force. She is here today.

Mr Speaker, the statement you made for the House seeks to acknowledge the harm caused by bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces and articulates a commitment to action and shared responsibility. As has been noted, issuing this statement is the first recommendation of the Jenkins review, Set the standard, an inquiry established just under a year ago, on 5 March 2021. Its report was presented to the parliament just nine months later, on 30 November. I am pleased that today, the first sitting day of 2022, the statement has been delivered. That urgency is warranted and important.

Working for the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia should be an immense source of pride, excitement and achievement. It should be the pinnacle of one's career—a place where ideas are explored and debated; where advice, knowledge and expertise are appreciated and valued; where democracy is upheld and celebrated; and where individuals are respected and safe. Sadly, for far too many, their experience has been one of trauma. People have left this place truly broken, careers destroyed, marriages torn apart, young women and men abused and violated, lives devastated. We have listened and we have heard you, and we are sorry. I am sorry.

We are all familiar with the damning findings of the Jenkins review. One in three people currently working in parliamentary workplaces have experienced some form of sexual harassment whilst working here. Over half of all people currently in these workplaces have experienced at least one incident of bullying, sexual harassment or actual or attempted sexual assault. That is truly deeply shocking. Some who took part in this inquiry have endured years of mental and sometimes physical anguish. On behalf of the crossbench, I say, 'We hear you and we thank you for so bravely stepping forward and detailing your experiences. Because of your bravery, this place will be a better workplace for others.' In particular, I wish to acknowledge and thank the brave women who join us in the gallery today: Brittany Higgins, Rachelle Miller, Josie Coles, Chelsey Potter, Chanel Contos. And I acknowledge that many others may also have wished to be here today. These women have shown incredible bravery in speaking out and, in doing so, have empowered others. Their actions have led to the instigation of the Jenkins review, which saw hundreds more step forward. We must not forget that speaking up often comes at a very high personal price. It comes at a price of intrusion into your lives with public scrutiny, and I acknowledge the stress and anxiety that many of you have been under since telling of your experiences. Please know that we understand this is not easy, but it is so important. Similarly, there are many people who, for various reasons, chose not to take part in the review. As the statement of acknowledgement says, we know that, for you too, your experiences have had profound and far-reaching impacts on your lives. So, to you, I say: we see you too, and we will not let you down.

Why is the statement so important? Because, for too long, those who have been bullied, assaulted or victimised have felt ignored, dismissed and moved on. They have felt powerless. This statement today gives them a voice. It formally acknowledges their experiences and the long-lasting impacts of what had happened to them. It's an acknowledgement from all the members of this place of our responsibility to ensure that we provide a gold standard workplace where everyone feels respected and safe. It's ultimately through our actions that we can show our commitment to changing this workplace.

On behalf of the crossbench, I pledge to do everything in my power to ensure that all 28 recommendations of the Set the standard report are fully implemented. As Commissioner Kate Jenkins herself wrote:

The recommendations … are mutually reinforcing and complementary and therefore should not be cherry picked.

Some will be more straightforward than others, and some are more far-reaching than others. The preparation and adoption of codes and standards of conduct for parliamentarians and their staff is urgently needed. As the vast majority of Australian workplaces have codes of conduct in place, it's extraordinary that this place, of all places, is yet to have one.

As the 46th Parliament, we stand at a fork in the road. We can choose to act with integrity and change this place and the way it has operated for too long. The course of action we must take is clear from the Jenkins review. As Commissioner Jenkins sums up:

The challenge of effectively preventing and responding to bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault in these workplaces is significant. The problem is not, however, inevitable, or intractable. There is momentum for change and the proposed Framework for Action in this Report sets out a clear path to ensure that—

these workplaces—

are safe and respectful, uphold the standing of the Parliament and are a worthy reflection of the community that they serve.

Whilst there is much more work to be done to build an equal and safe society, one where women and men are safe, respected and valued, we can start here. So I commend the statement to the House as the first step in raising the standards, of showing the parliament, our communities and our hardworking staff the respect they so richly deserve.